The report follows the discovery of a 2012 patent filing Microsoft submitted for augmented reality glasses. That filing attempts to patent "the system and related methods for inviting a potential player to participate in a multiplayer game via a user head-mounted display device." According to the filing, Microsoft's proposed glasses would use both visual and voice recognition and be capable of facial recognition and eye tracking.

In June 2012, a leaked Microsoft product roadmap mentioned a pair of computing glasses code-named "Fortazela." The roadmap stated a WiFi version of the glasses was slated for release in late 2014, followed by a version for cellular networks sometime in 2015.